2026 Public Hospital Report Card

While there have been some modest improvements in some areas, overall performance remains significantly worse than it was ten years ago, reflecting the impact of growing demand.

The 2026 report confirms the system remains stretched beyond its limits, and it is unclear whether additional federal government funding in the new National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA) will be enough to reverse the decline in performance.

The additional funding announced by the prime minister in January for the new agreement is very welcome, but our modelling suggests it might not be enough to get the system out of the cycle of crisis.